Adapting to Thailand's Aging Population

March 19, 2014 10:30 p.m. ET

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An elderly couple attended an antigovernment rally in Bangkok in December. Thailand's declining birthrates are forcing community leaders to search for new ways to make the elderly more self-reliant.
Will Baxter for The Wall Street Journal…

Elderly people lined up outside a health center in Thailand in November. Thailand's fertility rate has fallen from an average of seven children per woman in the 1970s to just 1.6 children, disrupting centuries of tradition in which children look after their parents.
Will Baxter for The Wall Street Journal…

The problem is especially severe in rural Thailand because much of the working-age population has gone to the Bangkok area to find higher-paying work.
Will Baxter for The Wall Street Journal…

A woman wove silk at the Mechai Bamboo Development School in Lam Plai Mat district. Some demographers note that already more than half the world's population lives in aging countries where the fertility rate is less than 2.1 children per woman.
Will Baxter for The Wall Street Journal…

A student used a wheelchair in a garden at the Bamboo School. Students are encouraged to use wheelchairs in the garden to better understand how disabled or elderly people would have difficulties working in a garden.
Will Baxter for The Wall Street Journal…

Mechai Viravaidya spoke to students at the school, which he founded four years ago. 'People aren't going to start having more children,' he says. 'That horse has already left the stable. What we are doing here is teaching elderly people in rural communities to learn more, earn more and increase their own productivity.'
Will Baxter for The Wall Street Journal…

People learned about gardening at the Bamboo School in November. Lecturers from nearby colleges stop in regularly to tell students how to find markets for their products and earn cash. Mushrooms and bean sprouts are potentially big earners, Mr. Mechai says
Will Baxter for The Wall Street Journal…

Women participated in a workshop to learn about gardening in Baan Tam Ta Kem.
Will Baxter for The Wall Street Journal…